AGENDA ITEM 5 REPORT NO. SR/2/19
HIGHLAND COUNCIL
Committee: Skye & Raasay Area Committee
Date: 4 March 2019
Report Title: 2018/19 Area Roads Capital Programme Progress Report
Report By: Director of Community Services
1 Purpose/Executive Summary
1.1 This report provides an update on the work undertaken on the Area Capital Roads Programme for 2018/19 financial year.
2 Recommendations
2.1 Members are asked to note the contents of the report.
3 Area Capital Programme
3.1 Finance
The capital programme for 2018/19 was approved at the Isle of Skye and Raasay Committee on 11 December 2017. The programme was based on the previous year’s budget of £804,830.
The 2018/19 capital budget was set at £807,222 which was an increase of £2,392 on the previous year.
Care and Learning had a surplus of funds following the issue of Chromebooks to all Highland pupils. The surplus was allocated to roads capital budget with £169,438 assigned to Isle of Skye and Raasay.
The total capital budget for Isle of Skye and Raasay for 2018/19 is therefore £976,660.
At the end of December 2018 £804,469, or 82%, of the budget has been spent. The remaining £172,191 is committed in part to schemes funded by the additional £169,438 as agreed by members and programmed for completion in March 2019.
3.2 Surface Dressing Schemes
As a consequence of the damage to the local road network due to severity of the 2017/18 winter, and following discussions with members at Ward Business meetings, the agreed 2018/19 Surfacing Dressing programme was deferred to 2019/20.
Repairs to the damaged local road network were undertaken on the basis of road hierarchy and hence a significant effort had been made undertaking patching works on failed sections of A & B Class roads. Time constraints and a need to seal the existing road surfaces that had been severely impacted by potholes and to protect against further ongoing deterioration.
Surface dressing started at the end of July once the surface dressing plant became available from Ross and Cromarty and continued to the end of September. Unfortunately the ideal dry warm surface dressing weather conditions that were present during most of June and July had reverted to overcast, wet and showery weather which led to a difficult protracted programme trying to find suitable weather windows. Ordinarily Skye would receive the surface dressing plant first looking for favourable weather in May/June and was clearly not an option given the 10 road sections were surface dressed giving a total of 109,790 sq. m covering 27.6 km. This represents 4.5% of the road network in Isle of Skye and Raasay.
All of the deferred 2018/19 schemes have been included in the 2019/20 Surface Dressing programme as approved by the Isle of Skye and Raasay committee at their meeting on 3 December 2018.
Completed surface dressing sites are detailed in Appendix A.
3.3 Inlay Schemes
Struan Road between its junction with the A87 Invergarry – Uig Trunk and the 30mph limit signs and a section of the A850(b) between the A87 roundabout and the entrance to Kyleakin Community Centre were inlaid. Struan Road having been deferred from previous maintenance programmes to allow the completion of the construction works associated with the Gaelic Primary School.
3.4 Overlay Schemes
Surfacing repair works to repair winter damage on the A class network continued into 2018/19 with overlays on 10 sections of the A863 between Drynoch junction and Ose, 2 sections on the A855 at the Old Man of Storr, and B8009 between Drynoch junction and the Drynoch River bridge.
A further 4 overlay schemes were completed giving a total of 40,825 sq. m covering 7.44 km. This represents 1.2% of the road network in Isle of Skye & Raasay. Three schemes were cancelled due to financial pressures due to the extensive winter repair works. Deferred schemes will be considered for next year’s capital programme.
Completed Surfacing sites are detailed in Appendix A.
3.5 Additional Layby Parking on A855 at Old Man of Storr
An additional layby parking area for 20 cars is to be provided on the south of the existing car park on the A855. Works are due to commence on site within the next week and will be completed before the end of March 2019.
3.6 White Lining
A substantial length of A class road that has received a surface treatment in 2018/19 remains unlined and it is anticipated that these lines will be replaced between the end of the winter and start of the tourist season.
A commitment has also been provided to the provision of lane arrows on two lane roads at locations where tourist traffic may exit from a single track side road on to an A class road. In addition, lane arrows will be provided in close proximity to the entrance to designated parking areas on the A class network as a reminder to tourist traffic to drive on the left. It is considered that road marking will have more impact on tourist traffic than a proliferation of signs which are also subject to language barrier.
Funding for centre line markings is subject to a bid to HQ and the lane marking arrows will be funded from the Isle of Skye & Raasay Area budget allocation and the lining programme spread over a 2 years.
4. Implications
4.1 Resource – No implications.
4.2 Legal – No implications.
4.3 Community (Equality, Poverty and Rural) – No implications.
4.4 Climate Change / Carbon Clever – No implications.
4.5 Risk – No implications.
4.6 Gaelic – No implications.
Designation: Director of Community Services
Date: 12 February 2019
Author: Iain Moncrieff, Roads Operations Manager
Appendix A
Completed Capital Road Schemes (unless annotated otherwise)
Skye and Raasay Committee 04 March 2019 2018/19 Area Roads Capital Programme Progress Report
Surface Dressing Site • A855 Osimarry cattle grid - Duntulm • A855 Balmaqueen - Staffin • A855 Staffin Village - Brogaig • A855 Staffin Road, Portree • A850 Edinbane • B883 A87(T) junction - Camustianavaig • B883 Lower Ollach – Shore Road junction • B884 Kinlochfollart junction - Skinidin • B886 Fairy Bridge – cattle grid • U4753 Greshornish
Overlay/Inlay Schemes • A855 Old Man of Storr • A863 Drynoch junction – Ose • B8009 Drynoch junction – River Drynoch bridge. • B8009 Carbostmore Hill • B8009 Distillery Hill • B885 Struan Road • U4825 Hedgefield Road (part funded Gaelic School)
Additional Funding (£169K) Capital Schemes • A850(b) Kyleakin Inlay Surfacing • A850 Greshornish – Fairybridge • U4780 Upper Milovaig – Waterstein (2 sections) (programmed March 2019) • U4768 Sheader Road, 2No laybys (programmed Feb/March 2019) • U4808 Somerled Square drainage/surfacing (programmed March 2019)